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Citizen, the app that turns everyone into a crime reporter, now wants to track helicopters. The company announced today that it’s introducing helicopter tracking to the app, which will explain to users why there are flying vehicles overhead.
The team tells The Verge it employs a 24/7 group to review 911 communications, and now they’ll review data about police helicopters, too. Like any other info on Citizen, users can add their own videos and comments about the incident while Citizen verifies it on its end. When possible, the team will include a “related incident” for a helicopter spotting that’ll better explain the situation. That way, if the helicopter pertains to a missing person report, for example, that report will be linked.
The helicopter tool is the latest in Citizen’s arsenal in its attempt to become the place where people get all their local crime info. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it introduced an in-app contact tracing tool, and the company says it’s seen over 7 million signups since its launch in 2017.
